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begins.
    Carolyn’s green eyes light up. She’s a small woman, five one and barely a hundred pounds, but she has unlimited energy. “We aren’t really going to represent Skipper, are we?” she asks.
    “Looks like it,” I say.
    She smiles. “This is too good. Maybe we can get him a plea bargain for the death penalty.”
    Rosie chuckles. “It looks like we may need to refresh your memory on the role of the criminal defense attorney,” she says.
    “I’m a pretty quick study,” Carolyn replies. She turns to me and says, “You seem to have stumbled into another big case.”
    “Marketing,” I deadpan. “I told you those coupons in the Sunday paper would pay off big someday.”
    I look around the table: my ex-wife, my ex-girlfriend and me. We aren’t a law firm—we’re a support group. Somebody will probably name a 12-step program after us.
    “Let’s get started,” I say. I describe my conversations with Skipper and Roosevelt. “The arraignment is at ten o’clock on Thursday.”
    “What do we know about the victim?” Rosie asks. You always start with the victim.
    “We don’t even know his name. Just a kid. May have been a prostitute.”
    Rosie is perplexed. “Does this seem a little odd to you?” she asks. “Let’s assume for a minute the victim was, in fact, a male prostitute. What was he doing in Skipper’s room?”
    Dead silence.
    After a moment, Rosie looks at me and says, “Let me try again. I know this group is about as PC as they come, so forgive me for saying this bluntly. Is Skipper gay?”
    I expect everybody to shout in unison the line from the old Seinfeld episode, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that!”
    I look to Bruce Lee for guidance. He remains silent. “As far as I know,” I say, “Skipper is straight. It’s possible that there may be sides to his personality that we don’t know anything about.”
    Carolyn snaps, “I’m only familiar with the side that’s a pig.”
    At least we’re starting on an even keel. I steal a glance at Rosie, who says, “Just so we avoid any surprises, it might be a good idea to confirm that he does, in fact, like women.”
    “Oh, he definitely likes women,” Carolyn says. “At least when I was sleeping with him, he seemed to be enjoying himself.”
    Oh Christ.
    I clear my throat. “When was this?”
    “Last year,” Carolyn says. She has a knack for dating men who are unsuited for her. I give her a sideways look and she adds, “He asked me, okay? I said yes. For the record, he was a perfect gentleman.”
    Well, as perfect as a gentleman can be when he’s cheating on his wife.
    Rosie whispers something to Carolyn, who wiggles her fingers and says, “Not bad.” Then she reconsiders and adds, “Pretty good.” I surmise that they are discussing our client’s sexual prowess and perhaps technique.
    “Are you still seeing him?” I ask.
    “No. It happened just twice.” Carolyn acknowledges it was a mistake but then adds, “We’re adults, Mike.”
    “I recognize that.”
    “You don’t expect me to apologize, do you?”
    “Nope. It’s none of my business.” I don’t want to get into a discussion of whether her relationship with Skipper had anything to do with the fact that he fired her. Carolyn had told us it was the result of office politics. I’m beginning to understand what she meant.
    “Damn right it’s none of your business,” she says. “Before we get too far down the garden path here, I’d like to raise a fundamental issue. With all the baggage, maybe it isn’t such a good idea that we accept this case.” She then adds, “You have some history with him, too.”
    This is true. It doesn’t seem like a particularly opportune time to revisit Skipper’s role in getting my petard hoisted from Simpson and Gates.
    Rosie takes all of this in without saying a word. Then she folds her hands and addresses Carolyn. “In fairness, Mike expressed some of the same reservations that you did. I can also tell you Skipper